"These books are concerned with Jewish history between 175 and 134 BC, and the heroic family of the Maccabees, particularly Judas Maccabeus. It describes their struggles against the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, the Hasmonean wars and the line of priest-kings that they established. The first book was translated from a Hebrew work, apparently in about 100 BC. The second book is said to be extracted from a work by Jason of Cyrene, who is otherwise unknown. It covers similar ground to the first, but there are various discrepencies and the first is thought to be more accurate."1